Editor’s Note: Flagler Beach City Manager Dale Martin publishes, from time to time, a report he calls ‘Friday Footnotes’ updating residents on current happenings and topics in Flagler Beach.
This is the December 27th, 2024 edition of that report, published here with his cooperation.
The first effort for the Christmas Community Potluck Dinner was a success. Thank you to everyone who joined us at City Hall that afternoon.
After opening our gifts in the morning, Abigail and I went to City Hall to prepare the room. We made use of all available tables at City Hall and borrowed additional tables from the Police Department and Fire Department. Using every chair in the City Commission Chambers provided seating for eighty-one participants- I figured that should be enough for this first effort.
With the room prepared, we returned home to do our cooking, trying to coordinate the finish time for three different dishes at 1:00 PM. After things were cooking, we got ready ourselves. At 1:00 (a minor miracle) we packed up the ham, turkey, and potatoes and returned to City Hall. When we arrived, two pies from the Police Department had been delivered and shortly thereafter, a resident dropped off some homemade fudge. The pies and the fudge were only the beginning of what would be an overload of delicious desserts!
We placed tablecloths and plates and silverware, donated by a leading community supporting organization, Flagler Strong (and more desserts!). The preparation part was now completed, so we waited.
The first guests arrived promptly at 2:00, bringing a tasty shrimp side dish. More people and food arrived soon after- another ham, a sausage and Spanish rice casserole, corn casserole, vegetarian lasagna, baked ziti, cranberry relish, another turkey, cookies, cupcakes, pies, a relish tray, bread. The guests were varied: couples, neighborhood groups, young families, extended families. Everyone was festive and talkative. Everyone finished and began packing their dishes (not many leftovers, except for cookies and pies!) around 3:30. We had the room cleared and locked by shortly after 4:00.
We got home and I looked at the mess in the kitchen and said that can wait until morning. Needless to say, it was an early night to bed for me. It had been a tiring, but wonderfully enjoyable day, spending the hours not only with my daughter on Christmas, but also with members of our community, so of whom I knew and many whom I did not (at least before the dinner). We’ll plan on meeting again next Christmas.
I have frequently mentioned a book that has guided my community philosophy since I arrived in Flagler Beach nearly eighteen months ago. The book is Your City is Sick (Jeff Siegler). A key premise of the book is that residents of a community must re-engage each other to restore and rejuvenate their communities. I have been welcomed by the community and have gained greater insight into the closeness of this community- I want to build my bond to the community and do what I can to make the bonds of others even stronger to this little city on the beach.
I enjoy sharing these Friday insights, whether they are personal perspectives or professional challenges. Vern Shank of Surf 93 invites me to join him on the third Thursday of each month to chat on the radio- no script, no agenda, just community conversation. I’ve had occasional visits to WNZF with different hosts on that radio station. We started Games on the Green on the third Tuesday in Veterans Park- cornhole, shuffleboard, bocce, and more to come. The games have been slow to develop mainly because it gets dark so early during the winter, but Tom Gillin, Recreation and Ocean Rescue Director, has some ideas for the spring and summer. Tom has spurred the return on outdoor movies- two of the efforts over the past months faltered due to weather, but he’s primed for spring movies at local businesses and parks on the last Friday of each month.
The next event on the City calendar is the 2nd annual Surfboard Drop and fireworks display. This event was somewhat hastily thrown together in a matter of weeks last year, but enthusiastically endorsed by the City Commission. Tom Gillin prepared oversized numbers ‘2024’ which were an early hit of the gathering in Veterans Park. His ‘2025’ is nearly finished. The lights on the oversized surfboard have been re-secured and tested in my garage and we’ll hoist the surfboard in a test run on Saturday evening at the Fire Department (thank you, Lt. Greg Evans, for your support and ingenuity). The fireworks have been ordered and will be delivered, then set-up to again welcome the New Year from the Pier!
I hope that you can not only be a part of this community next week, but throughout the year. We’ll have challenges, but with this community’s spirit, it will be an exciting year- the City’s centennial celebration and the reconstruction of the Pier, perhaps the most recognized symbol of this community.
Happy New Year to everyone!
